Lord Ahmed quits UK Labour party

A PEER has resigned from the Labour Party days before he was due to face a hearing over allegations that he made anti-Semitic comments in a TV interview.

Lord Ahmed was due to appear before Labour's ruling National Executive Committee on Wednesday to answer accusations that he blamed a Jewish conspiracy for his dangerous driving jail term.

He insists he does not recall making the alleged comments, and his solicitor Stephen Smith said he would not be able to receive a "fair trial" from the Labour panel.

A Labour Party spokesman said: "I can confirm that he has resigned from the party."

Lord Ahmed was suspended from the Labour Party in March after The Times reported that he blamed his 2009 prison sentence - for sending text messages shortly before his car was involved in a fatal crash - on pressure placed on the courts by Jews "who own newspapers and TV channels".

The Muslim peer allegedly told an Urdu-language broadcaster in Pakistan that the judge who jailed him for 12 weeks was appointed to the High Court after helping a "Jewish colleague" of Tony Blair during an important case.

Mr Smith questioned the reliability of the evidence against Lord Ahmed, saying: "The evidence is flawed, in my view it is unreliable and yet they seem to be accepting it as right. In those circumstances I don't think he can get a fair trial."